We’re in the middle of building an extension to the dewaniya, and one of the guys suggested we build a Fireplace in there. We all agreed to the idea and we liked the effect it’d add to the interiors. Finding a place that builds (reasonably priced) Fireplaces and chimneys was a nightmare. We’re on a budget, if you aren’t on one you’d breeze through the process, but we do have a budget and we’re trying to stick to it. We combed Shuwaikh and asked everybody.. We were out of luck, we didn’t find a single place that does them, and every builder we called was out of the country.
We learned later from a friend that they did a couple of Fireplaces with help from IGNEFERRO in their Abdali farm and He recommended Bu Hassan the chimney specialist. We’re now in the process of building the thing, we’ve chosen the colors and the rocks that’ll go into making it. So far this guy seems to know what he’s doing, especially when it comes to the tricky ventilation part. Apparently getting the smoke of the chimney top without smoking back the fumes into the room is a tricky matter, and not everyone is qualified enough to prevent that from happening.
I’ll keep you posted about this guy’s work, and will post the final pictures when he’s done incase someone else is thinking about building a chimney.
It was 7:30am and I was planning to go to Abdali and on my way I faced real heavy rains! I’m speachless but gonna keep you with the pictures. Its really dark!
P.S. I parked my car just to let things cool down and start write and edit my post.
UPDATE: Ali’s dish just fell down from the roof due to the heavy wind 🙂
Mishary and I were interviewed by Q valley in their ‘Interview with a blogger’ segment. We had fun doing the interview with the nice guys over there, and it was published today. We hope you enjoy it, click HERE to read it.
Thanks Q Vallery for having us on your IWB segment.
You know how supermarkets operate, they bundle 2 items together and sell them for slightly less. Which works like a charm, and is a great marketing strategy. Well, a reader just sent us the picture above, in his case it was ‘buy 2 items for slightly more‘. I know the price difference isn’t an issue in this case, but I still find this pretty odd.
The thing is, this isn’t the first time I see something like that, my cousin and I were at Lulu’s a couple of weeks back, and the Rice price was confusing. You’d pay less if you bought two 5kg’s bags than buying a single 10kg’s bag. Am I missing something? wasn’t it always the other way around?
Why bundle two items together if they’re not a better deal? An even better question would be, why the increase in price?
We’re building an extension to our diwaniya in chalet and we had to chop off a 20 plus year old tree that was on the way. It was a hard and a long process, we couldn’t move it even after cutting all of it’s roots, it was a bit too heavy, even for 2 cars to pull it off. Then a monster came a long and ripped it right out and dragged it outta the gates. Cruel scene. Watch the rest of the pictures
I finally got a new battery. It’s been an ongoing hassle for months now with the laptop and it’s old dead battery. I don’t know why it died and I’m not sure what to do to protect the new battery. The laptop feels better when you don’t worry about accidentally unplugging the charger and have your laptop go dead while working (by working I mean surfing amazon and looking at blogs).
Thanks Mishary for the battery and the long bill that came along with it 😛
I was sent this video via an email, and I just had to share it with you. It’s Dr Norman Finkelstein’s speech at the University of Waterloo. Dr Finkelstein’s mother and father and his family from both side suffered in concentration camps, and some of them were exterminated. That experience, instead of making him play the victim’s role for the rest of his life, it made him speak against brutalization everywhere, and more importantly against the “holocaust industry” and the concept of forcing guilt out of people to justify Israel’s cruelties and injustices.
I went for the first time yesterday and I loved it. It has this beautiful Kuwaiti energy all around it and unlike any of the other exhibitions I attended, all of the attending people are actually happy to be there. The attendants were from all age groups, old men and women on wheelchairs and walking sticks, and girls all in their best Eid attires.
The booths were all nicely set. Lots of creative ideas, and some not so creative ones. Lots of maids doing their backstage work.. well don’t get me wrong, lots and lots of booths were run by their Kuwaiti owners, but some of them were a joke, but they were little and far in between.
I’m proud of them. I couldn’t take many pictures coz there were lots of people on thursday and it was hard to take pictures.
After facing one of the biggest let downs ever (Aberdeen) We decided to give Scotland a chance, and go to Edinburgh. Going by what people have been saying about it, and how they praise it on Aberdeen’s expense, we thought it’d be a good idea. We’re glad we ended up going to Edinburgh, it’s nothing like the God forsaken Aberdeen.
Edinburgh was heaven in comparison. We loved it because it gave options to those who visit. Great sceneries for those who like to observe and be in the middle of beautiful landscapes, Historical buildings and old streets for people who enjoy these sort of things, and a not so bad place for shopping! Which is something we’ve been missing in Aberdeen.
It was 2 hours and 20 minutes away, so we took a train in the early morning from Aberdeen to Edinburgh, and spent the whole day there. We went to one of biggest castles I’ve seen, and it was beautiful. We shopped and did some sightseeing before going back to… el3ella Aberdeen.
If you’re in europe somewhere close to Scotland, a visit to Edinburgh wouldn’t be a bad idea. I liked it a lot and thought it would be a nice place o visit again.
I came to Scotland without having any idea what to expect, no one I knew came to Scotland and no one told me anything about this land of Scot. So if you wanted to beat any info outta me about scotland, I’d spit the word ‘braveheart’, and that would be it.
So when we first arrived, we got to learn Scotland’s main cities, which are:
Edinburgh. (Capital)
Glasgow.(Big city, very important and famous. Many big names have concerts in here)
Aberdeen. (eb kel basa6aa tegdar tegool enhaa eshwaikh el sena3eyaa .. ehyaa el man6aqa el sena3eyaa 3endohom o men garadat 7athey hathy ely ana saken fehaa!)
We went to Makka this weekend for Omra and we just came back. We were a large group and doing it was sort of easy and smooth and fun.
We were told that Saudi doesn’t allow visas to all people in this time of the year, and the Haram should be less crowded than usual, but nope! the place was swarming! Saudi started giving the the visas earlier than usual this year and it was crowded. The haram was full during all prayer times, even on AlFajer prayer it was full and we had to pray on the second floor.
I didn’t have any trouble getting my huge camera inside the Haram, and I took pictures for 10 minutes without any problems, and when one of the police man passed right in fornt of me he didn’t mind, instead he said that he liked the camera. But then 5 minutes later 2 guys with beards approached me and asked me to tuck the camera away, they said it’s prohibited to take pictures inside the haram “hide it before a police men sees and snatches it away.”
We stayed in Movenpick, it’s in Hajar tower, one of Zamzam new towers. It’s a very good hotel, modern and comfy. Right infront of the haram, around 7 minutes and 2 lifts away. I’d recommend it.
What more can I say? The Haram is breathtaking, nothing’s new here, it has always been a breathtaking place, bs seb7anallah, it just glows more and more every single time we visit.
I heard of Bossaball and posted about it, but never tried it. I thought it should be fun and easy since it’s all about jumping on a big inflated volleyball court. Well I was partially right, it was fun, but easy? well not really.
We rented coz we knew we were going to spend the whole weekend plus the 25-26th vacation in chalet, so we all pitched in and got the Bossaball for the chalet. They deliver it and assembled it. You don’t do much (and if you’re taking pictures of them working then you’re guaranteed a minimum amount of work).
The first time I tried it I was exhausted after only 10 mins of jumping. I got used to it eventually and was able to play for an hour and so, but it is very exhausting. It was fun though, we all enjoyed it and played it almost everyday of the vacation.
The Bossaball can was rented for KD250 a day. I think it’s expensive too, but according to the renter, it’s of high quality and doesn’t cause allergies and stuff, and they are flexible when it comes to the timing. They also rent and sell inflatable slides and castles and Human size foosball.
Have you ever scared your parents to death by getting lost?
I did. Twice.
The First time:
1984 In Turkey.
I have no recollection of this incident coz I was only 2. They told me that they were sitting in a big garden and all of the sudden they couldn’t find me. They scanned the whole garden and went to it’s edges trying to find me, with no luck, and after some time, they found me at near the place where they were sitting originally, but behind some trees. I was sitting on the ground and throwing little pebbles at something that made a sound. They said I was totally transfixed on the sound that I did not notice I was alone.
The Second time:
1987 in Brighton, England.
I was 5 and my brother was 9. He and I were at an amusement park at the beach and we ran out of money. The apartment wasn’t very far away, so my brother came up with a brilliant idea. The idea was: I should wait at the park, alone, while he runs back to the apartment and get some money. He pointed out the white building where our apartment was located to assure me that it wasn’t that far and that I should wait, so I agreed. He asked me to stay near the giant ‘ball pit’, you know the big pit with lots of little plastic balls in it (like this one), and I did, I waited for him to go to the apartment and back.
I waited for what seems like an eternity (you know how kids are) but I was getting bored. I dug my hands in my pockets, maybe to find something interesting to play with, but I found a couple of pounds, so I thought “why not play inside the ball pit rather than wait for him outside and be bored?” So I went in, I played for a long time and I was again getting bored, and my brother wasn’t here yet.
I got out of the pit, and waited outside for a little bit, it was getting darker and I was losing hope and I remember thinking maybe he forgot about me. So I raised my head and saw the white building and decided that maybe it’s not that far for me to walk back alone. Yeah! why not. But on my way I found my dad and uncle near a food stand buying some food, and they took me home. I remember thinking “Oh my dad is there, what a coincidence, let me go to him instead of walking back to the apartment alone.”
Now, what really happened was: My brother came back and looked around for me but couldn’t find me, so he got scared and went back to the apartment and told everybody that he had lost me. My father and uncle got freaked out and went out looking for me. My mother who was in the shower got out and put something on and went looking for me with her hair still wet. A major freaking out occured while I was playing inside that ball pool. And when I saw my dad at that food stand, turns out they weren’t there buying food (Duh!) they were asking everybody in that amusement park if they came across a little 5 year old boy.
This is was our location in Al Somman, It is 3 hours from the Kuwaiti borders and it was chosen and arranged for by our great friend Mishary (a different Mishary). They have professional people in Saudi who get paid to take care of everything (They bring the tents, rugs, dig a toilet *Yikes!*, and you know, make it happen). The trip was from wednesday (I went on a thursday coz I couldn’t take a day off work) to saturday. It was worth it and we had plenty of fun. Take a look at the pictures and compliment me on my amazing eye and photographic skills *sarcasm* Read the rest of this entry »
Me and ½ cream milk were having dinner at Johnny Rockets in Salmiya. We were sitting on one of the tables next to the bar when we saw a lady coming in and start talking to a guy on the bar. We were pretty sure the guy did not know her, he was in a bit of an awkward position. We did not pay any attention and continued enjoying our rocket burgers… till we heard the word Blogger!
All of our senses came to life and we found ourselves trying so hard to eavesdrop you’d think somebody’s life depended on it!
Yeah turned out we were sitting next to Moey (Hi Moey)
My friend and I wanted to buy good pillows for some time now but we didn’t know where to look, the best we could do was IKEA, all my pillows are from there and I wanted something different. She also needed a new mattress as she noticed signs of air mattress leak. We went to a couple of places before deciding to go to Tilal complex, and thats how we came across the ads for https://sleepify.co/ghostbed-mattress-review/ which took all our attention right until the point where we found The Bed Boutique.
It has a big collection of bed pillows and the best mattress for back pain, they’re so diverse. I use the word diverse because before going to The Bed Boutique, we were at The American Mattress, and their collection was disappointing. All of their pillows were kinda the same, the pillows doesn’t differ much and their prices were exaggerated.
Back to the Bed Boutique. They have a little room where you can try all of their pillows while having lots of privacy. The room is tiny and has one king size bed. The sales person actually encourages the customers to kick back and relax in that room and use it as long as they want, and take their time to decide which pillow to go for. I tried multiple pillows before deciding on their Tempur pillow.
The Tempur pillow I got is called Symphony, and it’s for KD44. It’s not cheap. You can get it online for KD30, but it’s heavy so I don’t know how much you’ll end up saving after paying the shipping costs.
It’s my 3rd night using the pillow and I’m enjoying it so far. It feels like a memory foam pillow at first, but it’s not, it’s different and much more comfier. You have to try it out if you’re looking for a pillow.
The Bed Boutique is at Tilal complex, Shuwaikh.
Phone # 22256172
Sometimes I just want to take a knife and rip my tonsils out with my hands and slit them off.
I’ve been sick on and off for over a month. It started with my birthday, and I’ve been having throat pains for a month now. I think I had 7 days without pains throughout the past month. i’ve gone through many strepsils and Chloraseptics and the damned thing isn’t going away!
Since I was little this throat thing have been my thing. I wanted to get rid of the tonsils 2 years ago and I went to a prominent Kuwaiti doctor, forgot his name, and he gave me a bunch of meds, but nothing helped. I remember him saying:
1-you gotta keep your nasal passages clear by using a drop (contains cortisone), you can’t have them blocked, coz thats when you get sore throats, when you overuse your mouth for breathing.
2-You’ve got to know how to sneeze, and thats by avoiding harsh exhales (I don’t know how he said exactly, but it was something along “latishla3 bala3eemik wenta ta36is”)
He didn’t do much. He then told me that even if we decided to remove your tonsils, that won’t solve the problem, you’d still get sore throat if the cause wasn’t totally your tonsils. Whatever thats supposed to mean.
I didn’t use any antibiotics till yesterday, I had to.
I might go to another doctor and see what I can do with my tonsils.
